Holt verbally commits to UNH

Tuesday

Feb 5, 2013 at 3:15 AM

By Mike ZHEPortsmouth Herald

PORTSMOUTH — Rick Holt knows winning.

The Portsmouth High School two-way lineman is leaving high school a football and baseball champion, and has decided to play his college football at his backyard school, which has enjoyed a fair amount of recent success as well.

Holt, a senior, made it official on Sunday, making a verbal commitment to attend the University of New Hampshire, a school whose football program has cast a warm shadow over the Seacoast during a successful past decade, but has boasted few local products on its rosters.

“Coach (Sean) McDonnell said, ‘You’re a hometown kid, pretty much,’” said the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Holt, an All-Division III lineman these past two seasons. “He said, ‘There haven’t been that many kids from this area that have had a chance to play there, but the few that do have been pretty successful.’”

Holt made three official visits: to Division II Stonehill (Mass.) College, Marist (N.Y.) College and UNH, which he made this past Saturday-Sunday, staying overnight on campus. All three schools offered him partial scholarships.

He will attend UNH his first year on a less-than-50 percent scholarship but, like many players recruited to the program, will have a chance to build it into a full scholarship over time.

“You work your way up the depth chart, then it becomes a half and then a full,” he said.

Due to NCAA rules, McDonnell is not allowed to publicly comment on recruits until Wednesday, which is the national signing day in college football.

Holt will become the first Portsmouth player since Rod Walker to play for UNH. Walker, whose last season in Durham was 2011, advanced from walk-on to starting outside linebacker on a team that reached the NCAA playoffs.

“I remember him more from Little League baseball, and then hearing from the coaches that Rod was at UNH,” said Holt, “that was pretty cool.”

Over the last three years, Holt forged his reputation as one of the top linemen in the state, and the most dominant in Division III, where the Clippers claimed championships in 2011 and ’12, their first state titles since 1981.

On the baseball diamond, where he’s slotted as the team’s No. 1 pitcher and off-day first baseman, he helped the Clippers win Division II championships in 2010 and ’11, and had a sizeable part in the 89-game win streak that currently stands as the national high school record.

The football program he’s joining has a pretty good recent record, too. Under McDonnell, the Wildcats have shared two CAA titles (2005 and 2012) and made the Division I FCS playoffs nine straight times, the best streak in the nation.

“It’s always been pretty cool that we have a team like UNH that’s so competitive and 20 minutes from here,” said Holt. “They’ve always been one of the better teams in the CAA and make the (national) playoffs every year.”

In high school, Holt felt he was a better defensive lineman than offensive lineman, and said coaches from UNH and Stonehill both said he’d be used there, at least initially; Marist had more need for help on the offensive line.

Getting a chance to play close to home, in front of friends, family, and past teammates and coaches, also was a factor in his decision, he said. UMass showed some interest in him, but as a “preferred walk-on” with no scholarship money.

About the only negative these days is the high school academic workload he returned to on Monday. He visited Marist last Thursday-to-Friday before making his visit to UNH over the weekend.

“Kind of stinks that I have to make up all the work,” he said, “but it’s good now knowing what I’m going to do.”